02/07/2009 Note: The Customs Tariff to ANZSIC 2006 correspondence has been revised in Table 3 and Table 4 to include four new tariff items created with operative dates of 01 July 2009.

30/4/2009 Note: The AHECC to ANZSIC 2006 correspondence has been revised in Table 1 and Table 2 of the information paper 'Changes to international trade in goods industry statistics, July 2009'. AHECC item 26999999 is now linked to ANZSIC 2006 item 9899 rather than ANZSIC 2006 item 0808 which has been removed from the classification. ANZSIC 2006 item 0808 has been removed from Table 5.

INTRODUCTION

This information paper describes changes that will be made to Australian export and import goods statistics classified by industry. These changes will result from the implementation of the 2006 update to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC).

This paper advises the timing of the introduction of ANZSIC 2006 in export and import statistics and how ANZSIC 2006 and related correspondences can be accessed.

BACKGROUND

Australian export and import statistics are based on documents lodged with the Australian Customs Service. These documents require exported or imported commodities to be classified to an Australian classification based on a detailed international classification, the Harmonized System. All goods exported are classified to an eight-digit Australian Harmonized Export Commodity Classification (AHECC) code and imported goods are classified to a 10-digit Combined Australian Customs Tariff Nomenclature and Statistical Classification (Customs Tariff) code. Data are disseminated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) based on these classifications as well as several other classifications, including ANZSIC. Correspondences from the AHECC and Customs Tariff codes are used to compile data according to these other classifications.

In February 2006 ANZSIC 2006 was released, replacing the 1993 version. The update was jointly developed by the ABS and Statistics New Zealand and some minor revisions were released in September 2008. Selective ABS data have been released on an ANZSIC 2006 basis at different times since February 2006. Further details about the ABS' plans to implement ANZSIC 2006 are in Information Paper: Update on ANZSIC 2006 Implementation, 2008 (cat. no. 1295.0.55.001).

Export and import statistics are presented according to two different uses of ANZSIC. First, monthly data are released on an industry of origin basis i.e. the primary activities assigned to each industry are used to allocate each commodity to the ANZSIC class that is most likely to have produced the commodity. While each commodity is allocated to one primary ANZSIC class, users of the data should be aware that commodities can be produced, exported or imported by businesses classified to a range of industries.

Second, the annual publication Characteristics of Australian Exporters (cat. no. 5368.0.55.006) provides a number of tables based on the industry of the exporting business. These tables include broad level statistics on industry of exporter by size of exporter and the industry of origin of the exported commodity by the industry of the exporter. This publication is currently being reviewed and a separate announcement will be made about the outcome of the review and any implications for industry statistics.

The rest of this paper focusses on international trade in goods statistics classified on an industry of origin basis.

TIME SERIES

Statistics on an industry of origin basis represent a secondary presentation of export and import statistics, so series are only presented on a merchandise trade or 'recorded trade' basis and not on a balance of payments basis.

These time series tables present information for 19 two-digit ANZSIC 1993 categories. More detailed ANZSIC information (including industry cross classified by country) is available on a user-pays basis from ABS Client Services.

From the July 2009 reference month tables 32 and 35 will be split into the following two parts:

part a) will present exports and imports on an ANZSIC 2006 basis

part b) will continue to present exports and imports on the existing ANZSIC 1993 basis.

Consistent with the recent introduction of the revised Standard International Trade Classification, time series data will be available on an ANZSIC 2006 basis for all periods from July 2005.

Data on an existing ANZSIC 1993 basis will continue to be released until the publication of data for January 2010. After this, ANZSIC 1993 data will only be available up to June 2009. This approach provides clients with time to amend their systems and ensures that revisions to the 2008-09 financial year are finalised before the release of data on an ANZSIC 1993 basis ceases.

The ABS will analyse the differences in data presented according to these two classifications. The results of the analysis will be included in information released with the July 2009 issue of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0).

Prior to the introduction of ANZSIC 1993, the ABS's industrial classification was the Australian Standard Industrial Classification (ASIC). Industry of origin data on an ASIC basis are currently available for the years 1988 to 1993 on a user-pays basis from ABS Client Services. To enable data to be compiled and stored on both an ANZSIC 1993 and ANZSIC 2006 basis, ASIC based data will cease to be available from early 2009.

Imports data on an ANZSIC 2006 basis will first be available on a user-pays basis from ABS Client Services with the release of the July 2009 International Merchandise Imports, Australia (cat. no. 5439.0) on 20 August 2009.

Exports and Imports data on an ANZSIC 2006 basis will first be available from the spreadsheets with the release of the July 2009 International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0) on 3 September 2009. From that date more detailed exports data will also be available, on a user-pays basis from ABS Client Services.

In applying ANZSIC 2006 to international trade in goods a number of codes have been added to allow for confidentialisation and other trade specific requirements. The extra codes, at the most detailed level are:

9889 Sum of items not readily classified

9899 Sum of confidential items not more specifically classified

9999 Non-Merchandise Trade

The following classification correspondences and labels can be accessed from the data cube available from the Downloads tab of this information paper:

AHECC to ANZSIC 2006 and ANZSIC 1993

ANZSIC 2006 to AHECC and ANZSIC 1993

Customs Tariff to ANZSIC 2006 and ANZSIC 1993

ANZSIC 2006 to Customs Tariff and ANZSIC 1993

ANZSIC 2006 Labels.

As the export and import industry statistics focus on the most likely industry of origin, only a subset of ANZSIC categories are relevant. These are primarily in the agricultural, mining and manufacturing industries. This was also the case with correspondences for ANZSIC 1993.

The AHECC - ANZSIC 2006 and Customs Tariff - ANZSIC 2006 correspondences were derived by applying the ANZSIC 2006 - ANZSIC 1993 correspondence to the equivalent 1993 correspondences. However, a small number of errors identified in the AHECC - ANZSIC 1993 and Customs Tariff - ANZSIC 1993 correspondences have been corrected for ANZSIC 2006. One example of an error is AHECC code 4101.20.19, Whole raw bovine (including buffalo) hides and skins, of a weight per skin =< 8 kg when simply dried. This was incorrectly linked to ANZSIC 93 code 2111, Meat processing but will be linked to ANZSIC 2006 code 1320, Leather tanning, fur dressing and leather product manufacturing.